family activity
Showing posts with label family activity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family activity. Show all posts

Crafts #12 Basket Weaving (An Easter Idea)

I was looking for another idea for Easter and found an idea that is pretty feasible. Nowadays I am pretty limited in time, even though the children are schooling. I would do the housework, bake, cook on alternate days and plan materials for the kids. Or meet friends. So I thought this was pretty easy. I didn't do it as precise as I wanted but I thought it served the purpose. First, I cut out the shape of the basket and cut strips on them like this. I also prepared strips of paper of two colours.


First, I had to stick one end of the strip to the basket so it would not come out. Imm loved to weave it through like this. After he finished, I would stick the other end of the strip to the basket. For the next strip, just put it in an alternate way to weave so it would look like the basket at the end of the post. :)


I cut out the shape of the handle before laminating it. Imm wanted to cut it himself after I laminated it.


Ko need more help in terms of weaving. I thought her a new word "alternate". I would tell her to help me lift up the alternate piece so I can weave the paper in and she would follow instructions after I demonstrated.


Both very pleased with their products! You can put pics of Easter eggs. I have not got round to doing it yet though Easter Sunday is over.:) But I intend to do an addition/subtraction/division game of sorts for the fun of it.


How the baskets looked like:
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Crafts #11 Easter Rabbits

It has been sometime since I started on my crafts again. First, I needed to organise my art and craft box and then see what I needed again as all of the art and craft stuff were shipped away. I could not bring the stuff back as we already had 8 luggages of things and in Singapore, it was actually easier to shop for craft stuff, I usually get from daiso, spotlight, art friend and popular. So after organising, doing a bit of shopping and researching on simple ideas, I finally found a simple and cute idea for our Easter. Making Easter rabbits!

The materials are actually very simple:

1) Plastic eggs
2) Pipe cleaners
3) cotton balls
4) Glue and scotch tape


First, I cut the pipe cleaner into half. Ko wanted to cut so I let her pose with it. Actually both Imm and Ko understood the dangers of scissors as I felt the importance of finger training. After I see how they handled it, I spoke to them about the dangers and told them there must always be an adult present when they are using. Now Imm will cut something that he wants to open up (packet of sweets? )with a scissors. He became rather independent. For Ko, she does not have the strength yet but she is trying to put her fingers properly through it now.


There were two holes in the plastic eggs so after cutting, we just folded it in like the rabbit's ears.


Imm was very insistent on drawing the face, so he drew for one of the rabbits.


However, the kids got a bit distracted after a while and I had to finish up the other 2 rabbits and pasted the tails using cotton balls (with glue) and pasted the feet using scotch tape.

Tada! After that, they enjoyed playing with the rabbits.. hmm..


Well, not all art and craft sessions are smooth sailing but I always tell myself that it is the process and the time together that is important. As the children love it, I see it as an opportunity to engage their creative minds and let them see that they can create anything they want as long as they have the image of the final product in their heads. That is why I always show them the picture of what we are going to do that day for them to have an idea. :)
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Silvermine Nature Reserve

For me, I constantly yearn for nature because it just brings a sense of calmness and peace to the soul. Both hub and me have been trying to expose our kids to nature especially in Cape Town. During the weekend, we went to Silvermine, which had many touches of nature. Somehow, I felt that our kids are different... a little sheltered and spoilt as compared to the kids here. Especially Imm, he whines when there is sand in his shoe, whines when he is tired after walking a little and whines when it is too hot or too cold. :( We would try to incorporate more fun in our physical activities and hopefully strengthen his stamina. Maybe it is his character, as we do not experience as much resistance from Ko. Yet, I can't help feeling that the kids here are much more adventurous and don't mind the heat and the cold as much.

Anyway, the kids really enjoyed themselves during our mini treking trip though there was some whining here and there. Please remind me to make them wear proper shoes as Imm cannot stand sand in his crocs. That is what I constantly overlooked as crocs are normally very comfy for them, except when we go to sandy places. We bought some food from the supermarket like roast chicken and fried noodles for our picnic. Here is Ko enjoying her mini tub of blueberries.



As we were walking around and trying to find a good area for our picnic, Imm was very interested in the bugs that he could spot.



 A peace (piece) of stillness.



The man and the boy enjoying their food.





 Eating more blueberries.


Mummy cannot help posing as the trees looks so nice in the background.




Walking along the path.


This boy will try to "poke" at the dragonfly despite always telling him how he will like it if someone were to poke at his face.


Yes, you have a long way to go my kiddos.


We found some lalangs and the kids got to play with them.


Well, what I learnt is to always keep trying, with each attempt in exposing them to nature, the children get to whiff another breath of fresh air and a little physical activity regularly always goes a long way!
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Our Family Trip to Durban

We had never actually thought of visiting Durban till hub's colleague said that we definitely MUST go for a visit before we go back to Singapore. Thus, we decided that it would be our last mini vacation in South Africa. I wasn't sure what I could see in Durban but didn't expect it to be so fun and entertaining. Plans were nicely arranged and catered for, especially for the kids.

1st Day:

Arrival At Sibaya Hotel. We were a little tired so we had dinner and went back to our hotel room. In the morning, we took a walk around the place and found the surroundings to be tranquil and relaxing. The kids enjoyed walking around and yes, looking for bugs.


We also discovered this spa place from Mangwanani Original African Spa Group which looked like heaven on earth. However, we never got a chance to try it as it didn't match our tour guide timings. Till next time! :)





2nd Day: On the second day, the tour guide brought us around the city centre.


A view from the top!


What we really enjoyed more was the Ushaka Underwater World, Ushaka Kids World and Ushaka Beach.



It was truly mesmerising as the whole place had a shipwreck kind of theme. The children also enjoyed watching the sharks and also experienced prawns eating the cells from their fingers. Now you know why some people don't eat prawns.......................


There was also this dining with the sharks experience. It was weird as we seemed to be eating their friends right in front of them.




There was a water area but we spent the time at the playground. Suddenly, the kids come running into the cafe screaming, "the bird is here!!!!!" They were so eager to pose a photo with the mascots.


Shooting at the people in the water play area!


Our last place for the day was Ushaka Beach. The sand was a little coarse, different from the beaches we went to.



A picture with the lighthouse in the background!


We went to Daruma for a great teppanyaki dinner in the evening with our friends. It is opened by a Japanese, thus the food was really authentic and awesome!


A picture together!


3rd Day: Hluhluwe Game Reserve, Cheese Farm



There were hundreds of the named animals but we spotted rather few during the game drive. I guessed it really depends on your luck. I just wished we had invested in a pair of binoculars.





Mummy rhino and baby rhino.



One of my favourite activities was milking the goat. Imm also had a great time and we could also drink the fresh milk after that. One of the workers also showed us how cheese was made.



4th Day: St Lucia

This was our cosy little house at St Lucia. It is a hippo town where hippos would come out and roam the streets at night.


Lovely views......



We took a walk at the beach nearby after that. It was untainted and gorgeous in the upcoming sunset.


Breakfast at St Lucia.


5th Day: Visit to Zulu Village

It was indeed a nice experience learning about the zulu culture and they also performed a dance for us which hub joined in! :)


We definitely had lots of lovely memories at this place! I was glad all plans fell into place and we could make this trip happen as it was a last minute decision..... :)
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